A conventional cellular access point (or base station) that employs beamforming techniques typically includes a phased-array antenna structure that is used to transmit on the downlink in various directions. Besides the information that is transmitted directionally, the access point often needs to transmit some other information omni-directionally. Broadcast services and basic control information about the cell are examples of information that needs to be transmitted omni-directionally. Because each antenna element of the array is itself an omni-directional antenna, omni-directional transmission can be achieved by operating a selected antenna element of the array at a higher transmission power than the other antenna elements of the array. However, this approach presents complications. For example, as a practical matter, the antenna element that is used for omni-directional transmission will need to have associated therewith a power amplifier arrangement that can support a higher transmit power than the power amplifiers associated with those antenna elements that are not used for omni-directional transmission. This complicates factors such as the design and placement of the power amplifiers used in the access point.
It is therefore desirable to provide for omni-directional transmission from an array of antenna elements without the aforementioned difficulties.